Editing SIM card (section)

== History and procurement ==
The SIM card is a type of [[smart card]],<ref name="ihs">{{cite news |last1=Tait |first1=Don |title=Smart card IC shipments to reach 12.8 billion units in 2021 |url=https://technology.ihs.com/582859/smart-card-ic-shipments-to-reach-128-billion-units-in-2020 |access-date=24 October 2019 |work=IHS Technology |publisher=IHS Markit |date=25 August 2016 |archive-date=24 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024214524/https://technology.ihs.com/582859/smart-card-ic-shipments-to-reach-128-billion-units-in-2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> the basis for which is the [[silicon]] [[integrated circuit]] (IC) chip.<ref name="Chen">{{cite book |last1=Chen |first1=Zhiqun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qaG0bwxJ-DEC&pg=PA3 |title=Java Card Technology for Smart Cards: Architecture and Programmer's Guide |date=2000 |publisher=[[Addison-Wesley Professional]] |isbn=9780201703290 |pages=3–4}}</ref> The idea of incorporating a silicon IC chip onto a plastic card originates from the late 1960s.<ref name="Chen"/> Smart cards have since used [[List of MOSFET applications|MOS integrated circuit]] chips, along with [[Semiconductor memory|MOS memory]] technologies such as [[flash memory]] and [[EEPROM]] (electrically [[EPROM]]).<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Veendrick |first1=Harry J. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lv_EDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA315 |title=Nanometer CMOS ICs: From Basics to ASICs |date=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319475974 |pages=315, 481–2}}</ref>

The SIM was initially specified by the [[ETSI]] in the specification TS 11.11. This  describes the physical and logical behaviour of the SIM. With the development of [[UMTS]], the specification work was partially transferred to [[3GPP]]. 3GPP is now responsible for the further development of applications like SIM (TS 51.011<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.3gpp.org/dynareport/51011.htm|title=3GPP specification: 51.011|access-date=29 April 2016|archive-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428081421/http://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/51011.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>) and USIM (TS 31.102<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.3gpp.org/dynareport/31102.htm|title=3GPP specification: 31.102|access-date=29 April 2016|archive-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414214907/http://www.3gpp.org/dynareport/31102.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>) and ETSI for the further development of the physical card [[Universal integrated circuit card|UICC]].

The first SIM card was manufactured in 1991 by [[Munich]] smart-card maker [[Giesecke+Devrient]], who sold the first 300 SIM cards to the Finnish [[wireless network operator]] [[Radiolinja]],<ref name=szasif2011>{{cite book|last=Asif|first=Saad Z.|title=Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem|year=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1119995814|page=306}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.gi-de.com/usa/en/about_g_d/company/history/history.jsp|title=G&D&nbsp;– History of Giesecke & Devrient|access-date=29 April 2016|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022122/http://www.gi-de.com/usa/en/about_g_d/company/history/history.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> who launched the world's first commercial [[2G]] [[GSM]] cell network that year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World's First GSM Call was made 20 years ago |url=https://www.fonearena.com/blog/40515/worlds-first-gsm-call-was-made-20-years-ago.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=www.fonearena.com}}</ref>

Today, SIM cards are considered ubiquitous, allowing over 8 billion devices to connect to cellular networks around the world daily. According to the International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA), there were 5.4 billion SIM cards manufactured globally in 2016 creating over $6.5 billion in revenue for traditional SIM card vendors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Publication of the International Card Manufacturers Association February 2017 Volume 27 No1 |url=http://pageturnpro2.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/Publications/201703/1354/77336/PDF/131328561544014816_ICMAFebCM12017Final.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2025}}</ref> The rise of cellular IoT and 5G networks was predicted by Ericsson to drive the growth of the addressable market for SIM cards to over 20 billion devices by 2020.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/mobility-report/ericsson-mobility-report-nov-2015.pdf|title=Ericsson Mobility Report November 2015|access-date=28 May 2017|archive-date=17 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317071236/https://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/mobility-report/ericsson-mobility-report-nov-2015.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The introduction of [[ESIM|embedded-SIM]] (eSIM) and [[remote SIM provisioning]] (RSP) from the GSMA<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.gsma.com/rsp/|title=GSMA Embedded SIM and RSP|access-date=28 May 2017|archive-date=7 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607042839/https://www.gsma.com/rsp/|url-status=live}}</ref> may disrupt the traditional SIM card ecosystem with the entrance of new players specializing in "digital" SIM card provisioning and other value-added services for mobile network operators.<ref name=":1" />